BE A GEORGIA TREE KNOW-IT-ALL: Butternut

Get to know Georgia’s beautiful array of trees and how you can take care of your own! Each month, we feature some of the most popular trees in the state. For September, we are showcasing the Butternut Tree. Butternut trees are nut trees that make clusters of sweet nuts that are used in baking. When mature, butternut trees have a spread of about 35 to 50 feet. Learn more information below!

Are you looking for a neat way to grow your own fruit trees? If so, there’s a good chance you can start in your kitchen. That’s right. You can use leftovers and scraps in your kitchen to grow fruit trees. Let’s take a closer look at how you can do this.

How to Use Scraps in the Kitchen to Grow Fruit Trees

First, you will need to find any leftover fruit. The type of fruit you have will, of course, determine the type of fruit trees you are able to grow. For now, let’s take a look at what you will need to grow a pineapple tree, orange tree, and tomato plant.

What you need:

Leftover pineapple

Leftover orange

Leftover tomato

Cups

Toothpicks

Seed-starting soil

Pineapple Tree

To grow a pineapple tree, you are first going to slice off the crown of the leftover pineapple (you want as little fruit attached to it as possible). Now, pluck off the leaves, making sure that five inches of the crown can be seen. Next, set​ the crown outside in a sunny spot for two to seven days to ensure it dries as much as possible. Once dry, place the crown in a glass of water, using toothpicks to hold it up so that only about a quarter of the bottom part of it is in the water (the pointy end should be facing upward, not touching the water). You will want to change the water once a week. After two to three weeks, roots should be visible and you will transfer the plant into the seed-starting soil once the roots have achieved two to three inches in length.

Tomato Plant

Take a leftover tomato and slice it into three horizontal pieces.

Fill a cup three-fourths of the way with seed-starting soil and lay the pieces of tomato on top.

Cover the tomato pieces with more soil until the cup is almost full.

Leave in direct sunlight and moisten the soil frequently.

Watch your tomato plant grow.

Orange tree

Take the seeds out of a leftover orange and clean them with tepid water. Next, fill a plastic cup with seed-starting soil, but make sure you first create two to four drainage holes in it. Now, push your seeds about a half inch under the soil and add just a bit of water to ensure the soil is moistened but not soggy. Take plastic wrap and cover the cup and set it in a warm place. Once the seed has sprouted, you will need to remove the plastic and set in a sunny spot. Water the seedling often, but with only small amounts of water. If the tree becomes too large, you can plant it in the ground or move to a larger container.

Here at Premier Tree Solutions, we love all trees. We’re experts at trimming, pruning, storm cleanup, tree removal, stump grinding, and many other services. Give us a call today at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

https://www.chopmytree.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FruitTree-1.png6231365Michelle Leehttps://www.chopmytree.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-3.pngMichelle Lee2017-09-25 14:39:112017-09-25 14:39:11Let There be Fruit! How to Grow Your Own Fruit Trees From Leftovers

When it comes to taking good care of your residential or commercial property, it all starts with your landscaping. Fortunately, there are several tips you can follow to help ensure your trees and plants look their best at all times. Let’s take a quick look at the best and worst fertilizers to get for your trees.

There are several nutrients that your trees will need in order for them to grow to their fullest potential. These nutrients are typically separated into three categories:

Macronutrients

Secondary nutrients

Micronutrients

The three main macronutrients that are needed are potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorous. You need to make sure the fertilizer you choose for your trees has large amounts of each of these macronutrients. Secondary nutrients that the fertilizer should be rich in include magnesium, calcium, carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen. Most of these nutrients are acquired through air and soil, so a fertilizer does not need heavy amounts of them. The micronutrients that a fertilizer needs to provide are zinc, boron, copper, manganese, nickel, and chlorine.

It is highly recommended that before you purchase a specific type of fertilizer for your trees that you first perform a soil test; this will help you pinpoint the exact nutrients that your soil is lacking. By pinpointing these nutrients, you can then know which type of fertilizer will be best for your trees.

Types of Fertilizers: The Best and the Worst

The best type of fertilizer for your trees will depend on your needs and goals. Liquid fertilizers tend to be very fast-acting. Trees absorb them quickly, meaning they need to be applied once every two to three weeks. Most times, these fertilizers require that you mix them with water. A granular fertilizer will be applied in dry form and is easy to control because you can see how much you are applying as well as exactly where the fertilizer is landing on the ground. Available in two forms — quick-release and slow-release — granular fertilizer proves very advantageous for growing trees. Lastly, plant food spikes are another type of fertilizer that ​works well. You drive the spikes directly into the ground by the tree you are growing and nutrients are released over an extended period of time.